"Your body is the first thing any child of man ever wanted. Therefore dispose yourself to be loved, to be wanted, to be available. Be there for them with a vengeance. Be a gracious, bending woman. Incline your ear, your heart, your hands to them.... To be a Mother is to be the sacrament - the effective symbol - of place. Mothers do not make homes, they are our home." from Bed and Board, Robert Farrar Capon

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

I am no stranger to household messes. My husband and I had our first five babies in six years. Lots of messes there. Then we continued on, to have six more babies. Five children plus six more children equals eleven, which equals mess after mess, and messes on top of messes! Our oldest was 21 when our youngest was born, so even when we had older children that weren't still making messes, we also always had younger children that were. I remember sometimes, back then, I would think of Proverbs 14:4(Where no oxen are, the crib is clean, but much increase is by the strength of the ox) and I would comfort myself those words. Not that our children were oxen, or our house a barn. But somehow I drew comfort from the fact that all my hard work wouldn't be in vain. Someday much increase would come through those little mess makers. So when this title caught my eye, on the Femina blog, I had to smile. I knew what it would be about. The Oxen Are In. Read it here on the Femina blog.
He looks innocent enough.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Behold this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Here is a helpful app if you ever let your young children watch videos from YouTube on your iPhone or iPad. If you're like me you cringe at all the "related videos" that are on the side or bottom of the screen. Try this app. It is called KidsTube.

Step 1. Search for the videos you want for you child and click the add button - these will be added to your child's library

Step 2. Lock the library - passcode so no videos can be added or deleted with out you

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

"...In believing that 'All things are pure to the pure in heart,' Luther's faith was simple enough to trust that after a conscientious day's labor, a Christian father could come home and eat his sausage, drink his beer, play his flute, sing with his children, and make love to his wife -- all to the glory ofGod!..."

Quote from From Luther on the Christian Home by William H. Lazareth.Painting: Fredrick George Cotman (1850-1920) One of the Family

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Stress and strife and un-forgiveness are worse for your body and your home than food not made from scratch.

So while I'm on a roll learning how to create a more healthy lifestyle for my husband and children, there's always this as the bigger picture: that man does not live by bread alone (Matthew 4:4) and that it is not what goes into a man's mouth that defiles him, but what comes out of his mouth (Matthew 15:11).

We live on the mercy of God. Our lives, temporally and eternally, are staked on Him alone.
And in that we can rest and enjoy the life we are living and the food we are making, or not, this day.